Victim says BBC hit truth bid

Lord McAlpine was wrongly identified by a victim as one of his abusers

It’s going to put people off if they think they’re going to be called a liar again

Child abuse victim

They were hoping new police and Government probes would bring all those responsible to justice.

There are claims the ring extended much wider than the handful of paedophiles from North Wales who were convicted in the 1990s.

It is alleged it spread across Britain and that police and figures from politics, showbiz and the judiciary were involved.

But there are worries the allegations may not now be taken seriously because of the BBC mistake ­involving ex-Conservative treasurer Lord McAlpine.

The 70-year-old was wrongly identified by a victim as one of his abusers.

Another victim, “Mark”, who told us he was abused by two men who have never faced justice, said he fears the error could jeopardise the hunt for the truth.

The 49-year-old, who asked us not to publish his ­surname, said: “It’s going to put people off if they think they’re going to be called a liar again.

“I was called a liar when I tried to tell the police at the time what had happened to me.

“And now you think is it worth it? Is it worth going through all this? Are they going to believe me?

“I would never accuse anyone that I wasn’t 100% sure was the person. I don’t know what’s happened in this case and I feel sorry for this man (McAlpine) and for anyone else if they are innocent and get accused but that doesn’t mean those who aren’t innocent shouldn’t be gone after.”

Mark, who lives in the North of England, said he was abused in the 1970s at a children’s home in North Wales.

He said the assaults took place at a secluded hotel – owned by care home boss John Allen.

Mark described the guests as ­“powerful and influential” and said they drove expensive cars.

He absconded and stole a car so the police would catch him and he could tell them what had happened.

But he claimed that after being taken to a police station he was visited by a “high-ranking ­officer” who called him a liar and locked him in a cell.

An hour later ­Allen, who was later convicted of abusing ­other boys, turned up and accused him of lying.

Mark, then 14, was returned to the home but said he escaped a second time and burgled a Masonic lodge in a bid to get sent away.

“I got three months in a detention centre to get out of there. I had to get out of there,” he said.

“Someone said ‘This is hell’ and I thought ‘No, this is sanctuary for me’.”

Allen was sentenced to six years in prison. Peter Howarth, ­deputy head of the Bryn Estyn home, was jailed for ten years.